Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton to Russian Grand Prix pole

Nico Rosberg will start from pole position for Sunday's Russian Grand Prix after a mistake left Lewis Hamilton second on the grid.

On his first run in Q3, Hamilton was one third of a second slower than his championship rival, but the Briton pulled out of his second flying lap running wide at Turn 13.

That meant that Rosberg, who finished second at the Japanese Grand Prix last time out after starting from pole, was able to coast back to the pit lane, confident that the rest of the grid was unable to match the pace of Mercedes over one lap.

Jenson Button, who has committed to another season in F1 for 2016, managed to out-qualify McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso and will start the race from 13th on the grid at the Black Sea resort.

Daniil Kyvat was unable to make the top-10 shootout at his home grand prix, with the Red Bull driver being knocked out in Q2.

Carlos Sainz Jr did not participate in qualifying following a heavy crash in free practice on Saturday morning, which saw the Spaniard taken to hospital. However, the Toro Rosso driver is still hopeful of taking part in Sunday's race.

Full standings:

1. Nico Rosberg 2. Lewis Hamilton 3. Valtteri Bottas 4. Sebastian Vettel 5. Kimi Raikkonen 6. Nico Hulkenberg 7. Sergio Perez 8. Romain Grosjean 9. Max Verstappen 10. Daniel Ricciardo 11. Daniil Kvyat 12. Felipe Nasr 13. Jenson Button 14. Pastor Maldonado 15. Felipe Massa 16. Fernando Alonso 17. Marcus Ericsson 18. Will Stevens 19. Roberto Merhi